World-class badminton star An Se-young faces a potential semifinal showdown against Japan’s Tomoka Miyazaki at the 2026 Yeosu Victor Korea Open, as tournament draws place the two athletes on a collision course in Yeosu. The tournament runs from November 3 to November 8 at the Jinnam Gymnasium in Yeosu.

Opening Rounds and Seeding Setup in Yeosu

Top-seeded An enters the women’s singles bracket facing Bulgaria’s Kaloyana Nalbantova in her opening match. Advancing further through the bracket sets up a potential quarterfinal clash for the world number one against eighth-seeded Riko Gunji of Japan.

The Miyazaki Semifinal Pathway

Should the early rounds progress according to seeding, the 20-year-old Japanese star Tomoka Miyazaki waits in the semifinals. Miyazaki opens her tournament against Chinese Taipei’s Huang Ching-ping. Miyazaki enters the Yeosu bracket looking to shift a lopsided historical head-to-head record against the South Korean champion.

Historical Head-to-Head and Recent Form

Previous encounters between the two players heavily favor the South Korean. An holds an 8-0 record against Miyazaki, most recently defeating the Japanese competitor 2-0 (21-17, 21-6) in the final of the China Masters this past September. Miyazaki experienced a difficult conclusion at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in late September, where Japan fell 0-3 to China in the women’s team final. Miyazaki dropped her third singles match against Chen Yufei 0-2 (10-21, 11-21), a defeat that left the young athlete visibly emotional over her team contribution.

Yamaguchi Anchors the Opposite Bracket

On the opposite side of the singles draw, second-seeded Akane Yamaguchi of Japan begins her campaign against Hong Kong’s Lo Sin Yan Happy. Because Yamaguchi and An occupy separate halves of the tournament bracket, a rematch of the recent Asian Games final—where An defeated Yamaguchi 2-0 (21-17, 21-9) in fifty-two minutes—can only materialize if both players advance to the championship match.